eDrum

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eDrum - Trigger MIDI Converter

Do It Yourself electronic drum controller

Introduction

This page is about electronic drums. Here you will find detailed information on
how to build an electronic Trigger to MIDI Converter module, based on PIC
Microcontroller, and how to build the triggers. This project has been developed
for many years now, and it is constantly improving. You can expect professional
results form your eDrum module. Let's start with the...

Design description

eDrum design is based on PIC16F877 RISC microcontroller from
Microchip running at 20MHz,
two line (16x2) LCD with backlight, and some operational amplifiers. It has 22 analog inputs,
2 digital inputs, 22 input gain potentiometers, 4 control buttons, one MIDI out and one serial RS-232 out.

The goal for this design was to use easy to find and cheap electronic
components, while maintaining results at the professional levels. I also wanted
the design to be modular and easily expandable. This has been achieved by using
PIC microcontroller and carefully designed firmware, written in assembly
language.

It was not my intention to design an instrument that already exist and is
relatively cheap, like Alesis DM4 or DM5. Instead, my idea was to take advantage of equipment
we already own (computer with soundcard, synth, sampler,...) to produce the
drum sound. So, all that is needed is... Trigger-to-MIDI conversion. Because of
that, eDrum will not offer any drumkits or sounds.

Result

I've been working on a professional rackmount version of eDrum. This is the latest unit, "ED248":

Features

Here is the list of eDrum main features:

24 velocity sensitive trigger inputs with adjustable gain

Hi-Hat stereo input (top/edge)

Snare Dual-Piezo input (head/rim)

Six Cymbal inputs (bell/edge) with choke

Two mode HiHat pedal operation:

Pedal potentiometer

Foot controller (CC04)

Four Mono Piezo inputs

All inputs are Roland/Yamaha compatible

VU-Meters for each channel

Overflow indicator on each channel

One MIDI output

Four control buttons

RS-232 serial port

Realtime performance

Crosstalk rejection

User memory for snapshots

It's FREE...

Comming...

More memory for snapshots

More controlable parameters

More possibilities

Of course, due to a modular nature of eDrum's design, we can also have a smaller 15 channel version. I made it in a different enclosure. It was a "ED88" eDrum:

By the way, the very first version of eDrum is dating from 1999, which was developed using PIC16F84.

Donate to eDrum project

Like this project? Please consider donating to show your support, it takes a lot of time and effort to develop.
Any amount is appreciated.